Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Politico and NBC News have announced the eight confirmed participants for the September 7th Reagan Library debate in Simi Valley, California. Of course, the list is missing former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty who's place will essentially be taken by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

The GOP, each and every one them, should bow to the dignity of the Office of the President and decline the offer to debate on the NBC/POLITICO forum scheduled the same day as President Obama's Speech before a joint session of Congress.

Eight individuals could show the Nation that service comes before politics and give the President full national attention.

The President said he would give his Big Jobs Plan Layout after Labor Day; it so happens to fall on the scheduled debate night. Give the man America's ears - wide open.

Catholic Baby Boomers will remember this Text- a full study of Valor. Something Illinois elected officials lack aplenty. It is time for Valor;time for vouchers!

Schools Apps First Year Performance at Illinois Public Universities and Colleges
Go to the related story »
By Diane Rado, Jodi S. Cohen and Joe Germuska
August 31, 2011 The newly-released High School-to-College Success Report shows how Illinois public school graduates fared when they became freshmen at the state’s universities and community colleges. The ACT company tracked more than 90,000 students who graduated from public high schools between 2006 and 2008, and then enrolled full-time at an Illinois university or community college that fall. The data do not include students who went to a private college or out-of-state. For each high school, families can look up average high school GPAs and grade point averages earned at each public university and community college that students attended.

Leo High School raised its ACT score by 4.5 points in under two years. It did so the old fashioned way, by teaching - that and the fact that retired CPS Math Teacher Denny Conway and Dr. Jack O'Keefe of Daley College (ret.) come in and coach ACT Prep -gratis.

According the Urban Myth -Catholic Schools have selective enrollment and admissions. Correction: Leo High School's enrollment is highly selective -Leo High School turns no student who wants to succeed away. If the student's family can not meet the costs of tuition, Leo Alumni and the Big Shoulders Fund provide the money.

Teachers work at Leo because they love the guys, not in the Sesame Street manner, but like Ditka loves football.

If a public school employee saw the 2011-2012 salary and benefit pay-out to the Leo Administration, Faculty and Staff they'd get the twizzles, the miseries, the conniptions and the vapors.

The pay-off for these teachers is the kids. No riots, no disrespect, no incidents.

Our guys are adolescent males, let's not kid ourselves. The trick is that the teachers here at Leo, like most Catholic school, are here because they want to be here. Doing what makes you happy can not be legislated in Springfield or Washington D.C..

The Parents of kids in Catholic schools are people carrying the burdens. The Teachers sacrifice to be sure, but the parents carry the load. They pay for public education and then get pounded with the ever increasing cost of Catholic Education. Catholic education delivers and public education always has reason for failure -'not enough tax-dollars'

Everyone got misty-eyed over the Superintendent who declined his $ 800,000 per year salary. Lovely gesture, that; but, how in the name of Ward Bond does anyone in education get to a salary of $ 800,000. I venture to say, that the generous gent socked a away more than few shillings and will re-coup any loss accrued on Speaker Circuit and television appearances.

The Superintendent of Chicago Catholic Schools, the energetic Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, is a Dominican nun with a vow poverty and her salary goes directly to the Order. Talk about a tax!

Indiana now offers real school reform -Vouchers. It is working. Illinois is still controlled by Planned Parenthood, teacher PACS, SEIU and other political money 357 Magnums. Those Magnums helped elect State Governors, Senators and Representatives and remain pointed at the temples of the elected.

A few independents,like my former State Representative Kevin Joyce(D.), fought the PACs and managed to retain his seat with heart and honesty alone.

School reform will never happen until Vouchers become available to parents.

All you need for proof, is the violence, vandalism and vociferations tossed at Catholic Messmer Preparatory School in Milwaukee, WI. - that is a disgrace. The Teachers Unions, SEIU and their pals attacked the school.(click my post title and read more about this disgraceful event)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

SEIU, like Planned Parenthood, paid good money for this President and he , by God, Delivers! President Obama has his NLRB guys out counting nuns - St. Xavier on 10rd Street in Mount Greenwood didn't have enough Hoods on the Board. Ergo, The Cougars* *ain't CatLick.

St. Xavier University was founded in 1846, the oldest Catholic school in Illinois. Its corporate member is a Catholic body with the "powers for the governance of" St. Xavier, that "links the University to the [Catholic] Church and makes it an officially recognized member of the Church."

St. Xavier's Board of Trustees must have at least four nuns from the order that founded the school, and, according to its bylaws, its governing body must "ensure [St. Xavier] continues its educational and religious mission."

After quoting these sources and many others, NLRB's regional director concluded in true Orwellian fashion that "the evidence establishes" that St. Xavier is "a secular educational institution or university."

To support this astounding conclusion flying in the face of the facts (not to mention common sense), NLRB claimed a 1979 Supreme Court affirms this authority.

In an instance of deja vu, the Supreme Court in Catholic Bishop considered a challenge to an NLRB order asserting authority over lay teachers at Illinois Catholic high schools. (Sound familiar?)

NLRB claimed that it had no authority over a church but that it possessed power over church-related bodies that are not purely religious, such as schools. The court considered whether the National Labor Relations Act granted NLRB such power.

Now, that's Change! No longer Catholic enough for President Hide-the-Crucifix.

By Tom Ritter
The Cougars are expected to be a powerhouse again this year. According to a SouthtownStar article, the Cougars are right where they want to be with their No. 2 national ranking. They will open the season at home on Saturday at 6 p.m., hosting Olivet Nazarene.

The Cougars men's soccer team also received NAIA Top 25 honors, coming in at No. 25 in the rankings, according to the school's athletics site.

I was chatting with a couple of Leo Men about the return to the books. Poetry puts many of the guys off. It will do that.

Poetry is deception. What ain't? The trick is in getting to what matters, but also the consequences of what matters. Poetry is music and as such the words should have a rhyme and a rhythm. Music at one time was part of the mathematics curriculum. Math really got started when guys wanted to build pyramids. Pyramids are tombs for kings.

See? Deceptive.

I told the guys to give the stuff of poetry a chance. By the stuff of poetry, I mean the things you should know. Meter, rhyme, and the rhetoric. It's not brain surgery, nor is it coal mining.

Here's some of the stuff I talked about.

The Author of the poem I mention was Col. Richard Lovelace (1618-1657) an Errol Flynn kind of guy - I had to explain Errol Flynn: think of Han Solo with a better vocabulary.

I keep my Norton Anthology of English Literature near my cluttered desk. It should be the only text book any high school teacher(no pictures and no Teacher cheat sheets) of English uses, but that is me.

The Glossary of Literary terms is superb, as is the historical treatment of each author and age.

First off, Cavalier Poetry is not Rap duets by Antawn Jamison and Tony Parker

The Setting of the poem is a prison cell where Col Lovelace, and other warrior poets who sided with Charles I in his fight with Parliament ( think President Obama against the Congress), found himself awaiting his fate. Lovelace was a well-educated Cavalier (meaning cavalryman - he had a string of horses that he used in battle.) and as such he believed that Charles Stuart as King of England Scotland and Ireland was anointed by God. Follow the King and you follow God. The Cavaliers lost to the Puritans behind Oliver Cromwell and his Round Heads ( they all had short hair).

The Characters are the Speaker, probably Lovelace himself and Althea, a classical name for a hot babe - the Cavaliers used names like Lucasta, Althea, Cinthonia, and such as idealized women. Some historians believe that Althea was a name for Lovelace's girlfriend Lucy Sacheverell.

The Figures of speech in the poem include metaphor ( When Love with unconfine'd wings), anaphora ( bringing back in Greek:

Here, Lovelace presents all of the possibilities that getting free will be.

The whole poem is a paradox the guy in the cell and chains is a free man.

The Theme of poem is a man is free even in prison and the real prison is to found in the love of one woman.

WHEN Love with unconfin'd wings
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair
And fetter'd to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.

When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames,
Our careless heads with roses crown'd,
Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts go free
Fishes that tipple in the deep
Know no such liberty.

When, linnet-like confin'd, I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty
And glories of my King;
When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Enlarg�d winds, that curl the flood,
Know no such liberty.

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.

Like I said it ain't brain surgery, nor heaving coal. It is fun, or it can be.

The fun comes from placing the poem in its proper historical context and that should be the work of the teacher. The Cavaliers were strange dudes* to say the least. Many were serious reprobates and a few were even cowards like Sir John Suckling - they also happen to have goofy names, by and large, that matched their flair for fashion - long perfumed hair, curled and set; lace shirts and long flowing capes and facial hair that seem manicured by lawn specialists.

They were accomplished soldiers and given to drinking their asses off, as well as having their wicked ways with women. They were schooled in poetry and music and dance in order to get noticed by the King and the ladies. They used poetry to advance careers and moves on the women. They had cavalier attitudes - Carpe Diem Seize the Day, Gather Ye Rosebuds & etc. They were more concerned with appearances and the rules that govern appearances in all things.

In the English Civil War, these poets were the King's cavalry. They looked swell and refused to wear armor as it was ungentlemanly. Their tactics were to neatly ride parade in line before the enemy and fire a volley from their pistols.

The Cromwellian Ironsides Army of Roundhead wore breast plated armor and helmets and charged full force into their enemy.

The Cavaliers were slaughtered and Charles I had his head cut off by Cromwell.

The Roundheads won for a short time and there is no Roundhead poetry.

That is a little bit of a reason to consider poetry, when gearing up for Friday Nights under the lights. Go all Cromwell on the football field, but after a good shower and the application of a fine manly scent, read your Althea a poem by John Denham, Robert Herrick, or Col. Lovelace.

Screw Suckling - he hired thugs to do his fighting. True facts.

Here is a great book on Cavalier Poets and this is from a review of that book - Reprobates: The Cavaliers of the English Civil War by John Stubbs

Few stock figures are more easily recognisable than that of the Civil War cavalier. From his broad-brimmed hat with its ostrich-feather plume to the soles of his high-cut leather boots, he presents the image of the silk-suited, dandified man of war: recklessly brave, immorally hedonist and, in his readiness to take up arms for a despotic king, irretrievably – if romantically – “wrong”.

I have a dash above room temperature I.Q. - I think the tests were racist, or skewed against my cultural background. That said, I know that the media ignores whom they wish to ignore.

Pit bulls like Tim Novak of the Chicago Sun Times will dig their incisors into the rumps of 'bullet-proof' kin to powerful politicians. That is all good. Tim Novak is the absolute best and most honest of newsmen. He is interested in getting to the root causes of corruption. Novak is on the Daley/Davis real estate bonanza, as well as other crimes and misdemeanors of the nepotists.

Kevin Clark - a leader of the highly dicey International Solidarity Movement is also a Gay Liberation Activist who happens to work closely with self-proclaimed Catholic Anti-war activists, Hamas, and was the man who helped guide the late Rachel Corrie into the path of an Israeli Defence Force bulldozer. Clark led suits and protests against Peoria based Caterpillar for building bulldozers. Clark also spearheaded the Gaza Flotilla activism and the attack on Cardinal George one Easter Sunday a few years ago again using kids to do his work -Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War.

Then there is the ubiquitous Andy Thayer whose commercial challenged young would be Bolsheviks with his Thee You in the Threeth before blocking traffic and getting the challenged arrethted. That great Marilyn Katz-like video and so many others have been scrubbed on You Tube. You may remember it from 2003, a parade of earnest radicals in motorcycle helmets urged us all to See Them in the Street. Wasn't that a time, to paraphrase the Methuselah of Red Pete Seeger? Well here's activist Andy:

Andy, like the smarmy Clark, happens to be a Gay Liberation Activist which is nice, but he also works with Lawsuit Lotto Lawyer Jon Loevy who has made millions of dollars bringing suit against any and all law enforcement for any reason.

There also a parade of feminists nuns who shill for abortion and manage to wheedle money under the guise of charity who help the activists get gigs with Ariana Huffington, face time on WTTW and a pass from breaking the laws.

SEIU Joe Iosbaker has had a year of playing at Haymarket Martyr thanks to an FBI raid over his labors on behalf of Hamas. Joe wants Chicagoans to think of the G-* summit as a latter-day Republic Steel picnic (1937). Bring the kids in strollers and maybe the Bulls, not the team, but the old-timey Red handle for cops, will light up a few babies, when provoked by the Soul-Patched Knit-Hat Che T-shirt dweebs. " Cool Bix! Light the tires under Viaduct! Seatle!"

I believe ex- Professor Dave Protess has the bus wheel marks all over the back of his Brooks Brothers Oxford shirt, more because he shed light on the network of wealthy radical enterprises - I wonder way Professor of Law and Can't Practice Law NU's Bernardin Dohrn, who took a trip to Eygpt in solidarity just before the Gaza Flotilla disaster and the soapy Arab Spring, has not stood in solidarity with the Fagin of the Innocence Project? I know Chicago's supine media is not wondering the same thing.

The same clowns and posers, Andy, Kev, Joe, Sister Mary Forceps and their familiars, are there when trouble gets planned and never called on it.

The same geniuses vet our elected officials from White House on down to Commissioner of Side-walk safety.

Chicago activist Joe Iosbaker, who helped organize the RNC protests in 2008 and whose home was raided by FBI agents last October, said he applied for permits to hold demonstrations in Daley Plaza and Federal Plaza downtown the day the White House announced the city would host the summits.

So far, he has not heard anything about the status of the permits from the county about using Daley Plaza or the agency that controls Federal Plaza. City officials also have said organizers will not be able to apply for a permit for a planned march through the city until the first of the year, Iosbaker said.

“They told me they would get back to me in two weeks to let me know at least that we were in the process of getting the permit,” Iosbaker said. “That was nine weeks ago.”

Local activist Andy Thayer said demonstrations will be peaceful, despite a recent statement by police Superintendent Garry McCarthy that the department is preparing for “mass arrests” of protesters during the summit.

The remarks were especially galling given Chicago's mixed history of dealing with large demonstrations, Thayer said. Police in 2003 arrested about 900 people who marched to protest the start of the Iraq war, with some protesters held for up to 36 hours. The arrests prompted a class-action lawsuit, Thayer said.

“Statements like that from McCarthy have a chilling effect,” he said. “The city has a history of attacks on civil rights.”

Iosbaker noted that events like the G8 and World Trade Organization summits have seen some violence in their host cities. Iosbaker attributed the clashes to aggressive police, and said his group is planning to do nothing to disrupt the city or the conferences.

“What we want is a safe, permitted, legal protest,” Iosbaker said. “Something that parents feel safe bringing their babies in strollers to, and we want our voice to be heard.”

Should be a great outing for the whole family,Joe. Let us know how that all works out.

Chicago IndyMedia is a great place to see all these folks in a very postive light. Doing so would put me off my feed, but that's just me.

Kevin Clark--ISM/SUSTAIN interview in 2 partsAuthor
Rita Sand
Date Created
12 Apr 2003
Date Edited
12 Apr 2003 10:13:27 PM
Rating
•Current rating: 0
Kevin Clark recently returned to Chicago from serving as a human shield in the Israeli occupied territories as part of the International Solidarity Movement. In light of the killing of ISM member Rachel Corrie of Washington State, the shootings Brian Avery from New Mexico and Tom Hurndall of Great Britain, Clark describes daily life in Palestine and the brutality and dangers that Palestinians and ISM workers face every day. (article 2)

Andy Thayer is co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net), a Chicago-based LGBT direct action group which has been a local leader in gay rights, anti-police brutality and anti-war organizing. As a leader in the local anti-war movement, he's helped organize most of the city's large anti-war protests for the last several years, including a march of 15,000 on Lake Shore Drive at the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He's been arrested numerous times in various protests and was recently found not guilty of two felony counts from a January 2008 protest against the Chicago visit of President Bush. Last May he was among 30 LGBT activists arrested in the 4th annual gay pride demonstration in Moscow, Russia.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

On 12 December 2010, following press reports linking her romantically with Australian cricketer Shane Warne, Hurley announced via her Twitter account that she and her husband Arun had separated several months earlier. Hurley filed for divorce on 2 April 2011, citing Nayar's "unreasonable behaviour" as the cause.The divorce was granted on 15 June 2011

The poor kid. It all started on an October night -A Friday I believe in 2009. I had made my way up to the fabled Pump Room of the Ambassador East Hotel. It was about 4:30 PM as I recall - too early for the Commodore Max Weismann and his posse of Steve, Jesse, Yancie, and other worthies, Angel was behind the bar. Angel fixed me a tall soda and lime and asked if I wanted the dried spicy Wasabi pea and cracker mix. " Nix, on that, Angel. I'm waiting for my Angel and she's running late." I dug into my strides for my roll and pinched out a couple of Hamiltons and two Jacksons. Angel, held up his palm, " The Lady on the other side asked me to keep you from getting thirsty."

No sooner had Angel placed my beverage in front of me than a young girl in her early forties slinked onto the stool next to mine. She was good-looking as most girls go, but I got eyes only for one at a time and mine have been locked on only one for three years. I might have mentioned her here from time to time, but she is a private type and not given to the big public stage, if you get me.

The same can not be said for my new friend. We talked for a good hour or so and then I had to beat it and meet the one I am roped to around the heart.

I liked the kid well enough, but nixed her overtures. I had listened to her man troubles and loneliness tales. I left her softly . . . with these words, " Kiddo, only suckers beef."

I tucked a sawbuck under my glass and slide a couple of double sawbucks to Angel on the quiet, "Angel, get the kid a few, but don't let her drive. We'll be back for the Andrew Distel show later. Ask, Max to see that she don't make trouble, or let Maynard take advantage of her, Okay?" Angel is a pro's pro.

I thought that was it. Not at all. I get these as regular at Patrick Cox IRS commercials of cable.

Dear Pat,
Did you lose my number? Did we even exchange numbers? I know we don’t know each other that well, yet we were intimate when I stayed in Chicago in 2009. Was that just a casual thing for you? If so I will take the hint and assume that you don’t want to take this further. If not, you know how to find me by looking me up. This requires you to remember my last name. If you have already forgotten my last name, then perhaps you shouldn’t be calling me . . . Dear God, that you were. You didn't seem cruel. You were charm itself. Perhaps it was my foolish heart, or the scent of Club Man that you wore. I am devastated think of you, Otherwise, I really would look forward to seeing you again.
Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth

My Dearest Pat,
I am so distraught that we can’t ever be together. I wish you could wrap me in your arms and tell me it will all be ok but I know you can’t. I will make this brief because I know it hurts you to see me this way.
Even though you have left me for that singer, I will always love you anyway. I want to let you know that if your woman ever hurts you in any way, that I will be here to embrace you with my unconditional love.

Please continue to love me too even though fate has split us apart! I should not have allowed her to have you, May you be blessed and cradled in the arms of those who love you forever. May you recognize that true love is letting go as I have done…
I love you…
Lonely LIZ

Dear Mr. Hickey,

Hey, what’s up? YOu never call or write; hope you are ok. I only keep track of your doings on this silly blog of yours.

I'm sorry. It is not silly. It is my only connection to you. I replay our few hours in the Pump Room every day. Until you went to meet her.

Where did you go? I was thinking about you today, hoping you’d call or email. Silly me, I guess I am under the delusion that the more I think of you, the more inclined you will be to call, email or stop by for a visit.

Please drop me a note to let me know that you are still interested in continuing this spark in my heart, so I know what to expect. Sorry to sound so disappointed, but you have trained me to think of contact from you as being the highlight of my day. Now I feel like I have nothing to look forward to . . . only on this blog more fool me. You delete my notes and why?

Sorry, all of this is making me a little mad, not only at you for being so silent, but also at myself, for loving you when you may not be interested.
I miss you,
Your Liz

Dear Master and Commander of My Heart, My Soul and All that surrounds it,

I am writing you because I realized that that I didn’t say everything I needed to last.

It’s funny that you should reject me that particular day, because that day, I was feeling that we had never been closer. I guess that was a beautiful delusion.

To tell you the truth, I know you were a bit put off by my request to . . .well, you know. In fact, I was shocked that my overture was met with such rigid moral rectitude.

I am wondering why you would go to all the effort of making me feel so loved and emotionally secure by commiserating with my loneliness and lack of centered self-respect and then pull the rug out from all that I believe by rejecting my suggestion.

Maybe this is all my fault and along I have been interpreting your behavior as a green light to go forward. If so I apologize. If that is true, then why did you encourage me by taking hands in your strong but gentle grip and beaming those understanding and sexy earth-tone eyes of yours. It is frightening me to think that you could be so manipulative as to play with my feelings like that, or that my own intuition about you is so misguided.
All I can think is that you have been giving mixed messages. You must be either very confused or afraid . . . or as posted some time ago, cruel. Why have you been giving me mixed messages? I need to know, because I still love you.
Always,

Hopeful Lizzy

Hey Mr. Smoothe Creme,

Please do me a favor and read all of this letter and think about what it says. I hope what has happened doesn’t mean that we have broken up. I hope we haven’t. It’s pretty lonely around here without you.

I have pretending these last three years, you blackguard.

I understand why you have made the choices you have. I understand that your little singer friend ( I followed her on day this past week, during a stay over at that dredful Peninsula) is the best thing for you. Still you need to know that even though you are far away, I need to think of you and pretend you are here every single moment of the day.

There is something I have told you. I really love you. I can’t sleep without knowing for sure that we still have the future. Yet I am sleeping more to avoid knowing that you are far away. This is the only way I can still pretend that you are still with me in person.

I really did believe from the first time that had we gotten together at that I would not wasted my time with footballers, heirs and Euro-trash royalty and that we would always be together. Please tell me I wasn’t wrong. Please tell me that the love I saw in your eyes was not my imagination.

Can we do this long distance? Let me know or set me free, even though it would break my heart.
Love always,

Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Leo Lions won a tough one against Irish Christian Brother sibling St. Laurence last night in the newly up-graded and re-surfaced Gately Stadium at 103rd & Corliss in Pullman.
Gatley Stadium was covered with the obsolete Astro-turf, which was like playing on a pool table. The Lions and the Vikings have a long and mutually respectful rivalry begun when Leo men Tom Kavanaugh and the great Mike O'Neill ( son of legendary Leo coach Horsey O'Neill)* led the Irish Christian Brother school in west suburban Burbank, IL.
Last year St. Laurence dominated the Lions on their home field.

Last night at the iconic limb-taxing Gatley Stadium the Lions bested the Vikings.

I am off to Dan Ryan Woods to catch the Leo Freshman play against the young Vikings at 9AM.

UpDate: The Young Lions lost to the Vikings 19-14 in a very well-played and disciplined game. Way to Go, Vikings!

Leo Fight Song
Oh, when those Leo men fall into line,
And their colors black and orange
are Unfurled,
You see those Brawny stalwarts wait
The sign,
And then their might against the foe
Is hurled
For then the foe shall feel the lions might,
And spirit of our team’s attack,
For with every heart and hand,
We will fight as one strong band,
For the honor of the orange and black!
RAH! RAH! RAH!

From the Great Taylor Bell
*

To this day, Mike O'Neill hasn't gotten over it. He is retired after coaching football for 20 years at Andrew High School in Tinley Park but he still remembers that day in 1977 when, as an assistant at St. Laurence, the heavily favored Vikings lost 14-0 to Deerfield in the semifinals of the state playoff and coach Tom Kavanagh quit.

"We were an outstanding team. We were playing our best football. We had played so well the week before to beat Elk Grove (34-15)," O'Neill recalled. "But Deerfield did some things that we didn't figure out. They were much better than we thought. Emotionally, we just didn't have it that day."

Losing to Deerfield was unexpected. But what came afterward was unimaginable.

"When we got back to the school, he told us: 'That's it for me.' We had no hint that he was quitting. He wanted to go out and build homes," O'Neill said.

Kavanagh had gotten married. His teaching salary wasn't enough to support his family. He had a side job, contracting to build new homes, which he did before and after school. He just walked away from coaching. He never attended another football game at St. Laurence.

So ended a short but brilliant coaching career. The Chicago Catholic League peaked in the late 1960s and 1970s as Kavanagh and fellow coaches Pat Cronin of St. Rita, Lou Guida of Mendel, Bob Spoo of Loyola, Tom Winiecki of Gordon Tech and Tom Mitchell of Brother Rice took the conference to another level and into the state playoff.

Kavanagh coached for only eight years. His teams won 80 percent (67-17-4) of their games, won a state championship in 1976 and three consecutive Prep Bowls from 1972 to 1974. He inherited a program that was 17-41 in its first seven years and went from 1-8 to 4-3-2 and the school's first-ever Catholic League playoff victory in his first season.

"He was a genius, ahead of his time in football. Whatever he did, coaching football or teaching math or building homes, he thought he could be the best," O'Neill said. "But he used to laugh when people called him a genius. He'd say as long as our players were better than the other team, we will be geniuses. Coaching can't win games, he said, but it can lose games. He believed when St. Laurence started to get talent, they started winning."

Jerry Skizas was the first talented football player to enroll at St. Laurence in 1968. It was the first year that the Burbank school offered leadership scholarships, which paid tuition for 15 to 20 athletes. Skizas was recruited as a quarterback. He chose St. Laurence over Brother Rice, St. Rita and Leo. It was a coup for coach Frank Minik. After graduating in 1972, Skizas earned a scholarship to Tulsa.

Minik was fired after going 1-8 in 1969, Skizas' sophomore year, and Kavanagh was hired. "I cried when Minik was fired But it only took a little time around Kavanagh and you knew him. When I left, I knew Kavanagh was going to do great things. He was brilliant. I was in on the ground floor of the program. More than anyone, he was responsible for building the St. Laurence program," Skizas said.

Kavanagh was an enigma. He had played football for Mike O'Neill's father at Leo and had been a member of the Irish Christian Brothers order that ran Leo, Brother Rice and St. Laurence. He was athletic director at Leo when Mike O'Neill was a student. Then he left the order, taught math at Loyola Academy, then moved to St. Laurence in the spring of 1970.

He was a warm and fuzzy guy. He was intimidating and demanding. He had brutal one-liners for his players. He didn't socialize. He didn't have social graces. He once invited a coach for dinner, then itemized the bill. He was a very private person. No one knew him well. He seemed cold and arrogant and distant and aloof. He didn't have a wide circle of friends. He didn't hang out with coaches. He drank coffee by the pot. He didn't have a retirement party.

He also was an epileptic. Few people were aware of his illness. After one practice, he confided in assistant coach Ray Konrath. "You know when we left the films last night at 11? I left and wound up in Joliet," Kavanagh told Konrath. Some players said he had a seizure in the overtime of the 1976 state championship game. In 1985, he suffered a seizure, drove his pickup truck into a retention pond and drowned.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Young Chelmsford Frailbottom III and his Dad Chelms Frailbottom II attend Father and Son Night at Mount Carmel only minutes before an unfortunate turn of events.

Give dad a gift of comfort this Father's Day with his own pair of Franklin + Gower pants and if you have boys in the house why not buy them father son matching pants.

Franklin + Gower is an LA-based collection comprised of custom-tailored pants, shorts and blazers that feature classic styles updated with great fit and fun details, ensuring men can fashion their very own look for any occasion.

Franklin + Gower features classic fabrics like twill, corduroy and seersucker, but allow men to customize the pieces with colorful piping and patterns. The flexibility of Franklin + Gower allows every man, from to rock their style with flair.

Founders and long-time friends, Paco McCauley and Eduardo A. Braniff, founded Franklin + Gower based on a belief in the importance of individual style and dressing to make a statement. They aim to create clothes that bring color, humor and life to every occasion in order to promote their simple philosophy: smile often and keep positive.

Smile all through a certain,thorough and fully justified ass-kicking? Oh, I think not.

The above goes with the photo of the stunning pantaloons. Bullies are not born; they are all too often the product of abusive fathers. Victims are not born; they are all too often the product of abusive fathers.

At some point a Father must explain to his son exactly why he should not wear his Official Harry Potter's Full Length Sorcerer's Cape to opening day at St. Cajetan's, or Clissold for first or second graders. No, really. That paternal habiliment prohibition is fine and solid preparation for the same young buck's entree to Mount Carmel, St. Rita, Marist, Brother Rice, or Leo in years hence. One might dodge the odd raised eyebrow at St. Ignatius or Chicago Latin, but certainly not through or after lunch period. Dad's take care of your sons.

Likewise, even at my hoary age, better souled people let me know that an Indian Head Dress, or that Magnificent Silver trimmed black Charo Hat might not be the accessories to help me close that final solicitation of philanthropically inclined captains of the corporate board room for the good of Leo High School. I am not even allowed to wear my Thom McCann Old Guy loafers that are wildly comfortable but distinguish me not as a Beau Brummel beyond the deck or front porch. That is to the good. My feelings might smart, but damn I look good!

Some Dad's invite whimsy into their children's lives and that is a precious gift, best left under the cedar divider in the bottom drawer of young Persimmon Antwerp's wardrobe. For every Persimmon there is a Draggo Santee awaiting any and all step over the line - whimsy be damned, while walking the concrete, Young Persimmon! Mors est in Arcadia. . .et in Arcadia ego..

By high school age, whimsy can assuredlyt get a whimsical young man's ass-kicked by the AV-Club and the Religion team.

N.B. - this item came to me via e-mail from a young mother very much concerned for her son and her husband - a California native. This sound woman is a south side expatriot living in California, for now. My prayers go with her.

'I believe in evolution ... call me crazy' ... In the end, I can say I believe in science and I believe in God. I don't see the need for one to disprove another. Having said that, I also believe–as a Christian and a thinking individual–that if creation theory is to be taught as “an alternative” to evolution in science classes, it should be presented in a scientific way and other creation ... Jon "As Clear as Mud" Huntsman -MSNBC Republican Candidate for President

Q. When the Philosophers speak of gold and silver, from which they extract their matter, are we to suppose that they refer to the vulgar gold and silver?
A. By no means; vulgar silver and gold are dead, while those of the Philosophers are full of life 1766 Alchemical Catechism, Théodore Henri (Ted Henry) de Tschudi

Al Gore says the planet is melting and has the science to prove it. I have a Chicago Telephone Directory. I could use that mass of data and call some folks for a random sampling - 'What's it like outside?' Science kids.

I caught Huntsman on the news last night. The guy strikes me as the kid in the AP Class who looks over on the exam papers of his furiously writing peers and gives the examiner the silent high-sign to indicate that those he scans "might be cheating." Nothing scientific in my assessment, just instinct based upon empirical events.

In the 1920's a high school biology teacher in the Bible Belt (Clingers of Guns and Holy Writ) was tried and convicted of violating State Law that forbade the teaching of Darwin's "Theory" of Evolution. This was age of John Dewey! The smart set was Daffy for Dewey the tweedy Brahmin Hegelain at the University of Chicago that was bankrolled by JD Rockefeller and stuffed with Prussian Doktors, while Chicago's stockyards slaughtered, processed and shipped every cloven and hoofed mammal stupid enough to get corralled. University of Chicago was south and mercifully east of the Stockyards; thus avoiding the stench of the blood and offal that fattened Americans. Now that is Darwin, boys and girls.

Straight south of the Yards,lived the Catholics: Irish, Polish, Lithuanian, and some Italian immigrants. Many worked in the Yards and the scent of work followed them home. If you grew up south of 47th Street between State Street and Western Ave. you remember the scent. It was not Chanel #5. Yards blended with the sulfuric scents of small steel and fabrication works. Mmmmmm. Mn. Darwin. The Food Chain. At the top was JD Rockefeller, the Heine Professors, Old Jack Dewey, the students and Dewey Lab Rats, right on out into popular culture and political debate.

JD Rockefeller packed his University with American Protective Association (APA) professors. The APA had no use for Catholics. An alternative to Catholic scholasticism was blended and sold and America lapped it up. Dewey's American Education Evolved. This one valorizes science, tests and measurements, lab coats, charts and polls. Everything became a Science, because Inquiry is Alpha and Omega in Dewey Hegelianiam. Dewey became the gold standard of American Progressives -

Prominent twentieth-century intellectuals like the philosophers John Dewey and Theodor Adorno commented on Catholicism's inherent authoritarianism and its potentially debilitating effects upon the human psyche and personal autonomy, suggesting that it weakened individual moral conviction and shaped the sort of "followers" suitable for totalitarian regimes. At the popular level, church teachings on matters of sexuality received much attention throughout the twentieth century, and American commentators on birth control, abortion, and homosexuality—including many Catholic commentators—criticized as repressive the prohibitive church teachings on these issues, emphasizing the centrality of personal choice in matters of sexuality and the church's disrespect for individual autonomy. Certainly not every expression of disagreement with official church teaching can be understood as "anti-Catholic"; nonetheless, many U.S. church leaders and lay Catholic commentators have noted the persistence in these debates of centuries-old distinctions between Catholicism and national identity, suggesting that modern anti-Catholic attitudes have assumed greater subtlety to conform to the norms of civil public debate.

Like those New York Times TV commericials packed with lisping Dudes in horn-rimmed glasses and gel-tricked haircuts -"The Times has the best columnists and that settles it." Inquiry! Politics was an art and now it pretends to be a science.

Actually it is alchemy. That was the goofy attempt to change matter, by schoolmen in the Middle Ages. Every body is a Faustus. He was the academic who sold his soul to Mephistopheles in order to have scientific and alchemical power and dominion over the Pope, his princes and his friends. That got him a disappointing date with Helen of Troy and dragged down to Gehenna with Lucifer's Lads. Today Faustus has a show on MSNBC, whose daffy alchemy turned Al Sharpton into a commentator who sounds like a marble salesmen with mouth full of samples. Makes sense in Dewey Hegelian Alchemy.

Jon Huntsman is equally 'comprehensible' . . .not to me. I had a Catholic education which had us study Dewey, among real thinkers. Dewey remains as important to me as Jon Huntsman. John Scopes was as befuddled by the attention he received for offering Darwin and going to the can for it. I do not believe that Mr. Scopes was as a hard-core an Evolutionist as the abortionists of American Progressive political dogma.

The great sceptic of America who reported the Scopes Trial in its entirety for the Baltimore Sun wrote this about science, belief and the alchemy of power.

[The advantage of Catholics] lies in the simple fact that they do not have to decide either for Evolution or against it. Authority has not spoken on the subject; hence it puts no burden upon conscience, and may be discussed realistically and without prejudice. A certain wariness, of course, is necessary. I say that authority has not spoken; it may, however, speak tomorrow, and so the prudent man remembers his step. But in the meanwhile there is nothing to prevent him examining all available facts, and even offering arguments in support of them or against them—so long as those arguments are not presented as dogma. (STJ, 163)**

* Usually known as "the A.P.A., " a secret proscriptive society in the United States which became a disturbing factor in most of the Northern States during the period 1891-97. Its purpose was indicated clearly enough by its open activity in arranging lectures by "ex-priests," distributing anti-Catholic literature and opposing the election of Catholics to public offices. . . .Catholic Encyclopedia

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Michael Moriarty is also a famous American actor, musician/composer,journalist and fierce for of abortion in all of its euphemisms.living in Canada. Michael Moriarty and I became acquainted via the Internet and I learned of the great man's Chicago roots.

I grew up in Little Flower Parish with many Moriartys. Like the Hickeys, there was a shower of them. Like the Hickeys and so many of the 79th Street Irish they were from the Kingdom of Kerry.

A Moriarty back home is the Harry Caray of Ireland by the name of Michael Moriarty. During my lunch break which comes anywhere between 9AM and midnight, I read about this Michael Moriarty from Dingle just west of Castleisland in this week's Kerryman -on-line: I you don't get the Kerryman, do.

Michael Moriarty, more commonly known by his Irish name - Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh is considering a run for President of Ireland.

By MARIAN O'FLAHERTY

Wednesday August 24 2011

LEGENDARY broadcaster Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh will reveal on Friday whether or not he will make a bid for the Irish Presidency.

The West Kerry native is still mulling over the question of whether or not he will run for the Aras and spent time discussing the matter with his family in Dún Síon, Dingle, over the past number of days.

Mr Ó Muircheartaigh outlined his interest in a run for the Arás to The Kerryman last week, adding that despite being approached by a number of political parties, if he were to run it would be as an independent candidate.

Speaking to the Kerryman on Tuesday, Mr Ó Muircheartaigh said he was yet to make a call on the matter. However, he indicated that it is likely that he will confirm his final decision on the matter this coming Friday.

The sprightly 80-year old was speaking to the Kerryman from his home in West Kerry before leaving for an engagement in County Meath.

This Michael (Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh) like the gent in Canada is man of great wit:

These are classics from the world of Irish Sport (hurling - a combination of hockey and homicide, Gaelic football, rugby, soccer Football)

"... and Brian Dooher is down injured. And while he is, I'll tell ye a little story. I was in Times' Square in New York last week, and I was missing the Championship back home. So I approached a news-stand and I said 'I suppose ye wouldn't have the Kerryman would ye?' To which, the Egyptian behind the counter turned to me and he said 'do you want the North Kerry edition or the South Kerry edition?'... he had both...so I bought both. And Dooher is back on his feet..."

"Anthony Lynch the Cork corner back will be the last person to let you down - his people are undertakers"

"I saw a few Sligo people at Mass in Gardiner street this morning and the omens seem to be good for them. The priest was wearing the same colours as the Sligo jersey! 40 yards out on the Hogan stand side of the field Ciaran Whelan goes on a rampage, its a goal. So much for religion."

Colin Corkery on the 45 lets go with the right boot. Its over the bar. This man shouldn't be playing football. He's made an almost Lazarus-like recovery from a heart condition. Lazarus was a great man but he couldn't kick points like Colin Corkery.

"1-5 to 0-8.. well from Lapland to the Antarctic, that's level scores in any man's language".

"Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well now ... but here comes Joe Rabbitte hot on his tail ...... I've seen it all now, a Rabbitte chasing a Fox around Croke Park!"

"I see John O Donnell dispensing water on the sideline. Tipperary, sponsored by a water company. Cork Sponsored by a tae company. I wonder will they meet later for afternoon tae."

"Teddy looks at the ball, . . . the ball looks at Teddy"

"Danny "The Yank" Culloty. He came down from the mountains . . . and hasn't he done well?"

"He grabs the sliothar, he's on the 50......he's on the 40......he's on the 30..........................he's on the ground"

"In the first half they played with the wind. In the second half they played with the ball".

"He kicks the ball lan san aer, could've been a goal, could've been a point.............it went wide."

"Stephen Byrne with the puck out for Offaly....Stephen, one of 12......all but one are here to-day, the one that's missing is Mary, she's at home minding the house.....and the ball is dropping i lar na bpairce...."

"Pat Fox out to the forty and grabs the sliothar, I bought a dog from his father last week. Fox turns and sprints for goal, the dog ran a great race last Tuesday in Limerick. Fox to the 21 fires a shot, it goes to the left and wide..... and the dog lost as well."

"Sean Og O'Hailpin.... his father's from Fermanagh, his mother's from Fiji, neither a hurling stronghold."

"Teddy McCarthy to Mick McCarthy, no relation, Mick McCarthy back to Teddy McCarthy, still no relation
"we need to push the backs forward!!"

This last is worth a landslide
Some Muck-savage -"Where can I find two free tickets to the next All-Ireland?"

Mossy Enright had been drinking at Keegan's Pub from bell to bell. Dark-haired Bridget finally said that the bar is closing, "Mossy, come up for air. Time to call it a day.' So the sixty-three Vietnam Vet stood up to leave and fell flat on his face. Mossy tried to stand one more time; same result. Bridget the bartender pleaded, "Mossy let me take you home, or call you a cab."

"Tut, BurrRidge-it. I make . . . my own way, Charlie never called me a cab in Quang Tri. Thanks Hunny.Showa Vet some Respect, Kiddo."

Mossy figured he'd crawl outside and get some fresh air and maybe that will sober him up. Once outside, he stood up and fell on his face again. Short trip home - no sweat. Mount Carmel football was tougher than this.

Mossy(which is Irish for Maurice) Enright had been in tougher situations and so the much decorated grunt decided to crawl the four blocks home. When he arrived at the door. he stood up and fell flat on his face. He crawled through the door and into his bedroom. When he reached his bed. he tried one more time to stand up. This time Mossy managed to pull himself upright, but he quickly fell right into the bed and went sound asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. The REM cycle blew a flat.

Mossy was awakened the next morning to his high school sweet-heart Annie, the Flower of Longwood Academy 1967 who married Mossy before he went to 'Nam and welcomed him home and helped him adjust, finish at De Paul with an accounting degree, father kids, work up the ladder of the biggest firm in Chicago and live for decades in West Beverly's St. John Fisher Parish and retire comfortably. Annie was standing over him, shouting, "SO YOU'VE BEEN DRINKING AGAIN!"

"Jesus, Annie, I ain't deaf."

Putting on an innocent look, and intent on bluffing it out he said, "What makes you say that?"

"Bernard just called from Keegans; you left your wheelchair there again!"

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

After two days of harsh criticism of Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s comment that he “fully understand(s)” China’s mandatory one-child policy, the White House on Tuesday issued a clarification. New York Times

Oh, Pish Posh, stuff and nonsense!

Joe Knows Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is like Green Energy/General Electric(GE) - it calls the tune the White House dances to. GE and Planned Parenthood paid good money to get the Obama/Biden team into the White House to be Planned Parenthood's First U.S. President -"There will always be people, many of goodwill, who do not share my view on the issue of choice( abortion). On this fundamental issue, I will not yield and Planned Parenthood will not yield."

Abortion/Choice/Green Initiatives - Like lightbulbs. Screw one out and toss it away.

Last week, poor old Joe Biden's tongue got caught in his fly again. This time over abortion and Red China. Red China is Planned Parenthood on steroids. The Red's have their own State run Catholic Church, so no rosary protests there. The Red Chinese have a policy that feminists and milquetoast males who go along with the fierce broads would love to have here in America - one family/ one child. No ups no extras. My only question is would that include civil unions or gay marraiges in Shanghai, Peking, or Tientsin? Another visit by Joe to Red China might clear that one up.

Nevertheless VP Joe 'It's BFD' Biden finds himself in the jack pot, not only with Catholics, devout Jews, Bible Thumping Gun Huggers, Mama Grizzlies and breeders, but also with twins I hear.

Dear President Obama,

We the under-signed are most disconcerted by Vice Presinet Biden's recent advocacy of Red China's One Child Policy. As twins (Identical/Fraternal/Sororal/Conjoined), Zygocity demands respect.

Please retract this statement by Vice President Biden, or explain exactly how CHOICE will work in determining which of us, will put on pumps or wing-tips and walk this world. Will conjoined twins like Chang and Eng Butler - formerly called Chinese Twins bet determined One Child? We are most concerned and ready to hear your statement, Mr. President. You will be hearing from other multi-birth (Triplets, Quad, & etc.) advocates, we are sure.

Fawcett Publishing was founded by Capt. Wilford Hamilton Fawcett – Capt. Billy, a Spanish American War and WWI veteran. It began with a magazine dedicated to humor, snappy stories, cute girls, gadgets and games. Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang took its title from a shrapnel shell that would blow-up over the heads of troops. Rather ghoulish that was, considering that Capt. Billy’s audience happened to be veterans of the Great War who endured the horrors of head wounds. Imagine a veteran of Iraq, or Afghanistan putting out a magazine entitled Laughs from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED.

As a dedicated and devout craven, my sense of irony tends toward the more wholesome and manly pursuits of the heaping board – a table loaded with eats. Patriotism and ripping yarns often meet over platters of meat. Nothing makes an American whose forebears left the hunger and despair of Lebanon, Poland, Norway, Liberia, Latvia, Lithuania, or the Philippines more Teddy Roosevelt than a good porterhouse or rack of lamb. At LaLumiere School, alma mater of Chief Justice John Roberts and comic actor Jim Gaffigan, I once asked my students to write an essay about which bird other than the American Eagle might best represent America.

Patrick Costello of Evanston, IL argued and wrote that America's iconic bird should be a Turkey – not the feathered living idiot who drowns himself during rainstorms, but the cooked, whole roasted feast. A+, my Boy! Uncle Sam would be proud. Uncle Sam the founder of the feast.

I would like to publish a monthly periodical dedicated to Uncle Sam’s America – if, to parallel to the movies of recent but popular culture, you’re in any way of the mind-set and character of Apollo Creed from Rocky; Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York, Wes Studi in anything, or Gloves Donahue from All Through The Night and Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier then YOU are on my team.

Let’s have a wildly patriotic – nay jingoistic - magazine published by a draft-dodging coward for combat vets, lumber Jacks and Jills, and Guys and Dolls who pour gravy on everything without a second thought. I want to call this magazine –Uncle Sam’s Big Bowl of Breakfast Meats – that should give you some idea of the direction that our literary musings should take.

Paul Bunyan Portions for Thought: My Dream Team and topics ( maximum 600 words per month) – all articles, poems and features must make a flattering reference to our country, our history, our people, our way of life, our cuisine, and, or Uncle Sam would all be managed and edited by the likes of Dan McGrath, John Hector, Marcus Pass and Susan Jordan.

**Philadelphia Eagles fans have been living in a jock soap opera -- "All My Children" surreally crossed with "Die! Die! My Darling!" Star wide receiver Terrell Owens arrived in a cloud of tainted glory from the San Francisco 49ers last year and took this city to delirious heights as the Eagles marched to the Super Bowl, their first appearance there in 24 years. Streaking downfield into the end zone in game after game, Owens (called "T.O.") danced, cavorted and mugged to the ecstatic delight of a Philadelphia crowd that had been starved for trash and flash in the drearily corporate era of nerdy Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. . . .Goodbye, Terrell -- wherever you're headed. Thanks for the memories, but as a fierce funk song says, "Just let the doorknob hit you where the dog shoulda bit you!" Que Mujer!

America is no where near past its prime and glory, Let’s drop the texting and get in some eating, bowling, travelling, reading and writing.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Random. This adjective is the latest victim of Dumbonics ( the pan-racial butchering of the language) thanks to MTV and other providers and has become the portmanteau word of choice among Best Coast dweebs. Ebonics was a clever race-card ruse that fell far short of its great expectations; no doubt due to systemic racism and police torture.

Dumbonics seems to have eclipsed Ebonics. Though I have never once caught, much less enjoyed or appreciated the scampy goings-on of the Jersey Shore kids, I am aware of their influence upon the young - college graduates and gainfully employed white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander, Inuit and Aleut, as well as high schoolers and tweens. This pan-idiocy is fueled via Texting, TV, Games and Fast Food, it seems to me.

Several weeks ago, I had occasion to wait for Leo High School patron at the stand-up bar of the venerable Bergoff Restaurant on Adams in Chicago's Loop. The stand-up bar was once a male only harbor for conversation, corned beef, cabbage and colliquative concoctions; now, there are bar stools and woman. It was after working hours and well-dressed boys and girls ordered drinks with mulled mint and gin or craft beers - no one was buying the fine Berghoff draft beers. Too Random. More on this later.

As a devout traditionalist, who automatically genuflects when the red votive candle is alight in church, chapel, or camp, I stand at bars, always, in pious deference to workingmen past. I had occasion to have my ears and sensibilities with choppy, giggly, and text-messaging that passes for conversation among the young ( range:21-36 by my empirical tote board)crowding the aisles, occupying the barstools and elbowing all sundry.

"Had latte at that Random place. Cheese Unlimited."

"Oh,Yah! Anyone there?"

"Random people."

"This one Random Asian Chick was Hot!"

"Don't Know Her"

"Whatever. See Family Guy?

"Random! and so Gay."

"Like Saturday."

"Air Show."

"Not."

"Omg I have to tell you what happened it was just so random In Wisconsin a farmer got stomped by a random cow,"

My Random thoughts. The word Random tends to be any aimless, thoughtless postioning or selection. Thus,

ran·dom /ˈrændəm/ [ran-duhm]
adjective
1. proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern: the random selection of numbers.
2. Statistics . of or characterizing a process of selection in which each item of a set has an equal probability of being chosen.
3. Building Trades .
a. (of building materials) lacking uniformity of dimensions: random shingles.
b. (of ashlar) laid without continuous courses.
c. constructed or applied without regularity: random bond.

But NOW!!!!

4. Informal a. unknown, unidentified, or out of place: A couple of random guys showed up at the party.
b. odd and unpredictable in an amusing way: my totally random life.

An anonymous phone call - Random hit

An unknown assailant - A Random attacker

An Unexpected Delight - A Random giggle

OMG, LOL, LMLFIAO!

My Random Blog. Cheese. Random. Gay. Well, I am a very happy guy often to the point of giggling giddyness.

This weekend I had the pleasure to introduce the woman I love to an old and dear friend. I had been telling the elegant, dainty and sophisticated lady of roofing contractor, wit and roué Eddie Carroll these past three years and she became doubtful of this worthy's corporeal existence.

" We have yet to meet this Mr. Carroll of whom you speak so glowingly. I believe that he is a creation of your fictive turn of mind," the miniature Jennifer Jones charged.

" Honest Injun, Eddie is all too real," I protested. As luck would have it, I noticed Mr. Carroll entering the happy portals of Keegan's Pub on Western Avenue, following a surprise party we attended Saturday afternoon. I obeyed the laws of traffic and courtesy and safely made the necessary turns for a return to the aforenamed past premisis.

Eddie Carroll greeted our entry with his customary largess ( "Bridget, get Hickey and this good-looking woman anything they want and get a round for the house!") and warmth. My Lady and I and the other guy in the bar enjoyed a refreshing beverage thanks to Eddie Carroll.

We caught up and my lady friend was enchanted. Eddie's broad interests and dapper turns of phrase melted away her doubts concerning the good man's worth and existence on this our planet earth. Matters sundry and sublime filled the afternoon air as the liquid quantities in the flowing bowls vanished.

Eddie Carroll explained, " I hire only foreigners, salt-water Irish and other DPs ( Displaced Persons in the now politically incorrect sobriquet). Here's an example. Last week I was inspecting an interior rehab job. I do mostly roofing, but also some home refurnishing. Two of Hickey's third cousins from Kerry work for me.

The Two Turkeybirds are hammering floorboards down in a house. Eamonn picks up a nail, determines it’s upside down & throws it away

He carries on doing this until Ownie Brosnan says, 'Why are yer throwing them away?'

I am as yellow as a duck's foot. However, like most ersatz slingers of ink and stringers of opinion, I admire courage - spiritual, moral, political and physical. Firemen, police officers, skilled tradesmen, servicemen of the military, missionaries and defenders of children inspire my better angels to get off of their asses and motivate me.

The beautiful and funny actress Kate Winslet, most known for out-living Lenny DeCaprio in the icy waters of the North Atlantic is a profile in courage. Get this Chicago Firemen!

Winslet and her two children were among the VIP guests at the ravaged the wood and stone mansion and ran into the night air in just their pyjamas.
According to Sir Richard, courageous Miss Winslet acted like a true Hollywood heroine as she swept his 90-year-old mother Eve into her arms and helped carry her to safety as the mansion crumbled around them.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Now, will this gift horse( bet he looked in its mouth-money, marbles or chalk?) be a legal alien horse? At, least Joe will put someone to work.

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer (@devindwyer) reports: Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, today where his hosts celebrated the first visit by a U.S. vice president since 1944 with performances of traditional music and dance, a Mongol-style wrestling competition and a gift: a Mongolian horse.

"The horse is the most important animal in Mongolia,” an aide traveling with Biden told reporters. “It is the lifeblood of the country (nomadic history), so giving a horse is one of the most meaningful gifts that can be given."

In his ruling, Schmidt limited his decision to whether Catholic Charities had a legal right to keep its contracts with the state, which total more than $30 million. . . ., ". . . No citizen has a recognized legal right to a contract with the government," Schmidt wrote. "The state may refuse to renew the plaintiffs' contracts."

Huffington Post and every other media outlet let go of a high Huzzah!

or did the judge merely convince fans of Gay marriage that every thing boils down to the matter of buck? Sexuual appetite is Civil Right, so say advocates of Gay marriage and family. Dignity is demanded for children. What about the 2,000 kids in the care of Catholic Charities?

The Pantapgraph ends with this bit of moral after thought:

At some point, however, the state likely will have to transfer nearly 2,000 children covered by Catholic Charities to other organizations. It's not clear whether that means children will be removed from their current settings.

Boy, Howdy! Them orphans and foundlings are pests.

I was married and widowed. Loneliness is everything it is cracked up to be and more. Historically, less than 5% of human population found confort in the arms of like gendered partners. Sex and Love often go hand in hand. Sex is a response to the animal impulse to reproduce and, massively, that urge is fulfilled between a man and women. Thus, the human race marches on!

Homosexuality has always been a part of the human story. These days, the media and political gamesmen appear to be making it the whole human story. I have known homosexuals all of my life and for the most part loved them and wish, hope and pray that they find happiness and fulfillment. I know that they are not going have kids without pushing the biological envelop off the table or adopting children.

Like homosexuals and breeders, I was born of a woman - Mom. Even God has a Mom. He also had a father even though he was not the bearer of the DNA. Joseph was chosen to be the Father of Jesus or Joshua Bar Joseph. Mary did not choose cousin Elizabeth, or a Sarah, or a Martha, or Annette Bening to prove that the kid was alright when He visited the Temple.

Jesus wandered away from Joseph and Mary and not Joseph and Barnabas, or Gary.

The Holy Family was a Man and Woman and a Child.

The heart wants what the heart wants - to be loved. There is love outside of Marriage.

The Illinois Defense of Religious Liberty (Civil Unions) is a gateway to Gay Marriage. It is cynical and bullying legal legerdemain to bowl over any and all opposition to Gay Marriage - the Roman Catholic Church. Aside from the several hundreds of wildly happy gay couples civily unioned, the only other thing that this cynical legislation accomplished was to sever the good work of Catholic Charities from Springfield's tax larder, but more so, it legally outlawed a Catholic agency from doing good work.

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Dad always said that I couldn't find my butt with both hands. I can. Allow me to add this imperative -“Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you." - Pope Francis to celebrate Pro-life Mass, Vatican

About Me

A peach of a guy with all the sweetness one could expect from a life well-spent and in good company: short on brains but a terrific dancer!
Author:
Every Heart and Hand: A Leo High School Story
The Chorito Hog Leg, Book One: A Novel of Guam in Time of War